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- Brookfield Properties is partnering with The Aria Community to give augmented fact (AR) ad inventory through its buying centers nationwide, in accordance to an announcement emailed to Retail Dive’s sister publication Promoting Dive.
- The deal gives Aria unique legal rights to Brookfield Properties’ digital air area, which handles a lot more than 150 million sq. ft in 100-in addition places across 42 states, for every the announcement. Aria will use the area to develop AR prospects for manufacturers to promote their information, which individuals will be able to obtain via their mobile phones.
- By the partnership, Brookfield Qualities is hoping to attractiveness to tenants, manufacturers and visitors of its browsing centers by making “phygital” — a blend of actual physical and digital — advertising activities. The go sees in-person procuring integrating AR to better contend as on the web browsing grows.
As in-person browsing hopes to claw back again from the economic fallout of the pandemic, Brookfield Properties is converting its physical mall presence into “phygital“ experiences. The nationwide geofenced advertisement inventory provides Aria exclusive rights to Brookfield Properties’ untapped digital air room. Utilizing Aria’s AR technological innovation, marketers will be ready to leverage retail area for branded content material accessible by way of cellular phones. Other options afforded by the advertisement network include virtual shopping mall directories, wayfinding in shopping mall environments, immersive retail shows, touch-cost-free transactions and much more.
Though developed ahead of the pandemic, phygital activities have gained extra awareness in the earlier calendar year and a 50 % as suppliers look for harmless still fresh ways to interact in-person customers. Nike examined the industry earlier this calendar year through a recreation of a condition park in its NYC flagship retail store. At a time when mall browsing is declining, Brookfield Attributes could use its phygital presenting to stir up significantly-wanted curiosity for its quite a few tenants. Previous tumble, the genuine estate subsidiary laid off 20% of its retail arm.
As men and women commit extra time on their telephones, AR ordeals are getting central to the retail sector. Organizations like Google, Pinterest and Snap are concentrating much more of their e-commerce offerings about the technological know-how, which makes have been activating across a variety of groups. AR marketing is 1 way in-person commerce can compete with its net-centered rival.
Aria, founded two yrs in the past, has been steadily attaining traction in adland. The organization employed its AR tech to assistance electrical power the halftime present at this year’s Super Bowl and options to provide its platform to additional community areas, including airports, tunes festivals and universities, per the announcement. Former CEO of Interpublic Team David Bell, CMO of Mastercard Raja Rajamannar and previous worldwide CMO of Fb Antonio Lucio are among members of Aria’s advisory board.


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Learn the ins, outs, dos and don’ts of creator marketing at Social Media Week Europe this 10–11 October in London. Register for your in-person or virtual pass.
Squarespace captured attention earlier this year with a Super Bowl ad starring an army of more Adam Drivers than viewers could count. The Emmy-nominated campaign got even more meta with a behind-the-scenes video in which multiple versions of the actor clashed with each other on set.
Now the brand is building on that quirky concept with a new spot featuring Beef star Joseph Lee, who talks with himself about his dual identities as performer and painter.

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Carlyle invests in India's largest third-party supply chain services company Delhivery
24 March 2017
US private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that it has acquired a significant minority stake in India's largest third-party supply chain services company Delhivery Pvt Ltd.
Tiger Global, one of the existing investors of Delhivery, also invested additional capital. The combined investment exceeds $100 million, valuing the Gurgaon-based company at around $700 million (Rs4700 crore).
Founded in 2011 as a food delivery company, Delhivery now provides express logistics services in over 600 cities in India and in more than 8,500 pin-codes and operates 12 fulfillment centers for B2C and B2B fulfillment services.
It also provides less-than-truckload shipping, full-truckload shipping, cross-border delivery and a range of supply chain technology products to enterprises and small businesses.
Neeraj Bharadwaj, managing director of the Carlyle Asia buyout team, said, ''We have been very impressed with Delhivery's management team and the company's strong execution capabilities, leveraging its extensive network and proprietary technology platform.''
''We are delighted to partner with the management and expect to leverage our global experience in the logistics sector to assist the company with operational improvements and business expansion,'' he added.
Sahil Barua, CEO and co-founder of Delhivery said, ''We are excited to partner with Carlyle as we continue to grow our business to meet the surging demand from our e-commerce clients, small businesses and enterprises who are rapidly digitizing their supply chain operations. We believe Carlyle's global network and industry expertise will enable us to expedite our growth strategy.''
Carlyle, the world's second-biggest private equity firm, has invested more than $1.4 billion in more than 30 transactions in India as of 31 December 2016.
With $158 billion of assets under management, Carlyle employs more than 1,600 people in 35 offices across six continents.


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In September 2013, game designer Eric Zimmerman wrote what he called the Manifesto For A Ludic Century. His argument was that passive entertainment was a thing of the past, that interactive systems like games have beauty and meaning, and that they help us learn how to answer important questions. Also, they're really good fun.
The Guardian has been covering games for a long time; 10 years ago this summer the Games Blog began, providing a daily look at the most interesting stories from both the mainstream industry and the growing indie scene. This week, with the giant E3 video game event just days away, we felt it was time to celebrate that; to consider the past, but to think about how the games industry works now, and where it's going.
Over the next five days, we'll be bringing you a banquet of specially commissioned features celebrating and exploring games culture – and especially the games developed by British studios.
Although times have been hard, Britain remains in the top five game development countries in the world; it has over 500 studios creating games like Grand Theft Auto, Lego Star Wars, LittleBigPlanet, and Batman: Arkham City. What drives those developers? What makes Britain such a powerhouse in game development? This week, our games editor will be writer-in-residence at some of the UK's most successful studios to find out.
There are two distinct audiences coming to our games coverage: the committed gamers, and the newcomers or concerned parents who want to understand the games world that is such a big part of their children's lives.
We write for everyone, and this week we'll be featuring a series of features explaining some of the basics to people who may only have glimpsed games on a smartphone or through the crack of a teenager's bedroom door.
Games help us understand the world around us
This is a $70bn a year industry; games make more money than Hollywood box office. US research firm DFC Intelligence calculates that there are 1.4bn gamers in the world. We spend 3bn hours a week playing games. This is a mainstream, culturally significant industry often overlooked or dismissed.
We are moving into an era, as Zimmerman put it, where game literacy will be a vital skill; it will be crucial for understanding the consumer technology around us, but it will also be paramount in understanding how digital culture and business operate.
Games are becoming part of everything from finance and medicine to urban planning and education. Games help us to learn and to understand the world around us. We'll cover all that later too.
For now, welcome to games week.
Coming up this week:
Keith Stuart on how artificial intelligence research for games will create virtual characters that inherit our personalities and achievements - and can be passed down to our children
Stuart Heritage on why Guildford is the beating heart of the UK games industry
Cara Ellison on her year of video game sex


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For some years now, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been leveling unfavorable regulations against cryptocurrency. They eventually banned it this year, and the citizens could only buy or sell crypto through P2P.
However, after some research and reflections on how several other countries of the world like Ghana has been working on CBDC, the bank called for a private stakeholders webinar regarding this in order not to be left behind.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in a webinar with the relevant stakeholders held on Thursday reportedly announced its intention to pilot its Central Bank Digital Currency on October 1st this year.
The webinar was centered on the concept of digital currency and its place in providing modern financial solutions.
The name of this project was called “Giant”, which some claim was curled from Nigeria’s attribute as the “Giant of Africa.” The aim of Giant is to build a CBDC that will facilitate efficient cross-border payments, financial inclusion, and macro-management.
According to Rakiya Mohammed who is the bank’s Director of IT, Giant will run on a hyperledger fabric blockchain which will provide the modular infrastructure for its piloting.
With Ghana and now Nigeria following the CBDC trend, some analysts posit that most other countries in Africa will soon buy the idea in the future.


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By CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(NEW YORK) -- The e-commerce platform Shopify said Thursday that it has terminated stores affiliated with President Donald Trump in the wake of pro-Trump supporters, many clad in Make America Great Again gear, violently storming the... Read More.
Latest Local News
PUD OFFERS FREE BATTERY CHARGING FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The phrase ‘free of charge’ just became real. The ...


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Today, the vegan and cruelty-free brand uses recycled plastic across its skin and hair care products
Natural beauty brand Faith in Nature has launched a new initiative to help reduce plastic waste.
From now, customers can post their empty Faith in Nature five litre containers back to the brand’s headquarters in Radcliffe in Manchester, UK, to be reused in the company’s supply chain.
Participating customers will then receive 20% off their next five litre purchase from Faith in Nature’s website.
Commenting on the scheme, Joy Parksinon, CEO of the brand said: “At Faith in Nature, we are very aware of the impact of plastics on the environment and are always looking at ways to reduce our waste consumption to help our planet.
“Our new five litre recycling initiative is the perfect way to get our loyal customers involved and on board.”
Customers can choose from 23 five litre products, including shampoos, conditioners, body washes and hand washes.
According to the brand, it already uses recycled plastic for a number of its products’ packaging but wanted to do more to reduce waste.
Faith in Nature was founded in 1974 by Rivka Rose with the aim of making natural and ethical products affordable for all customers; prices across the brand vary from £3.25 to £44.
Today, its products are stocked across Europe, North America and Asia.


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Verizon has launched a new mobile Wi-Fi sharing device - Verizon Ellipsis Jetpack , a compact mobile hotspot that can connect up to 8 Wi-Fi enabled devices via the Verizon 4G LTE network. Verizon said that the device boasts 2100 mAh battery that can last up to 10 hours of use.
According to Verizon, the XLTE-ready Verizon Ellipsis Jetpack (MHS800L) is now available at its online store for $0.99 with new two-year activation. The device will also be available in Verizon Wireless stores in the coming weeks. Customers can add the mobile hotspot to their MORE Everything account for an additional $20 monthly account access fee, added Verizon.
VERIZON ELLIPSIS JETPACK (MHS800L)
0.9-inch OLED display
Indicators to easily check network signal, battery life, data usage, and more
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
3.07” x 2.20” x 0.49”


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CHICAGO -- Crane Merchandising Systems has released a next-generation snack and food machine, the Merchant Media with 7" touchscreen. According to the manufacturer, the Merchant Media is equipped with new retail tools designed to revitalize vending by attracting and engaging consumers.
The touchscreen enables many of the other features, including the digital shopping cart, multiple-product purchases in a single transaction, the ability to view nutrition information, and eye-catching advertising and promotion display.
Merchant Media Touch features a built-in card reader and customizable graphics, both of which can help operators differentiate their offerings to win new business. When combined on a Media machine, the built-in card reader and high-visibility credit card graphics have demonstrated the ability to increase card usage by 100%, including more than 20% multi-vends, Crane reported.
"The way consumers are embracing the new technology lets us know that we have accomplished our goal of providing the industry with a next-generation vending machine that will be relevant for years to come and be able to compete with other evolving retail channels," said CMS product manager Ignacio Santa Cruz.
With more than 1,000 units in the field over the past year, Crane said it conducted extensive field tests to ensure Media Touch adhered to the highest standards of durability and reliability before its commercial release.
Media Touch machines feature durable capacitive touchscreen technology and high-impact glass that protects the touchscreen from damage in everyday use or vandalism attempts. Its scratch-resistant polycarbonate surface protects user interface graphics from peeling, tearing or vandalism. Built on the National Automatic Merchandising Association's open standards, the machine operates on the most advanced vending platform in the industry, Crane claims. Making use of advanced remote monitoring tools ensures optimal retail and operational results.


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Apple has warned that the disruption in China due to the coronavirus will begin to hit its sales forecasts.
The tech conglomerate said “worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained”, according to the BBC.
Apple forecast record-breaking sales of around $67bn (£51.6bn) for this quarter, however, the technology giant has not revealed the hit it could suffer due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.
Most of its stores in China are either closed or operating reduced hours meaning sales would be much lower.
Apple said in a statement: “We do not expect to meet the revenue guidance we provided for the March quarter.”
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Boats.com and BoatTrader.com announced that Carson and Carter McBride of Springdale, Ark., are the winners of the "Tap into Summer" video contest.
Carson, 9, and Carter, 6, are avid anglers and came up with the video idea while "pretend fishing," something they enjoy. Along with their father, Aaron, they picked up their Triton 16 Storm at the Brunswick aluminum boat manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Mo., where they received a VIP tour.
"The viral marketing impact of video is an increasingly important marketing element, and Carson and Carter's video is a great example," said Kim Rocco, brand manager of Boats.com and BoatTrader.com, in a statement. "Their creativity and enthusiasm for fishing is evident. They are the next generation of boaters."


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What’s coming to the site?
A free-standing, 13,000-square-foot CVS pharmacy that will replace the one inside the shopping center at 123 Mill Rd., according to company spokesman Mike DeAngelis. It is scheduled to open by the end of this year.
In addition to CVS, New Dorp is currently served by Thriftway Pharmacy at 2728 Hylan Blvd., and the pharmacies inside ShopRite, Pathmark, and Stop & Shop supermarkets.
And what’s nearby? Grant City is the location of two Duane Reade pharmacies (2107 Richmond Rd. and 2145 Hylan Blvd.) as well as the Todt Hill Pharmacy at 2110 Richmond Rd. In Midland Beach, Midland Pharmacy is at 606 Midland Ave. Dongan Hills is served by three national chains — CVS (1361 Hylan Blvd.), Rite Aid (1360 Hylan Blvd.), and Walgreens (1759 Hylan Blvd.) — and two independents, Dongan Hills Pharmacy at 1560 Richmond Rd. and Ocean Breeze Pharmacy at 1817 Hylan Blvd.


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A delegation of Leave campaigners were left red-faced on Wednesday after they handed the EU’s chief negotiator a hamper packed with British items produced by businesses worried about Brexit.
The group presented Michel Barnier with a basket of “fantastic products from Britain” in an attempt to raise awareness of the “powerful position” Britain holds globally.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Leave Means Leave co-chairman John Longworth said he would tell Mr Barnier that any post-Brexit trade deal must not restrict the UK’s “economic and regulatory freedom”.
He said he would tell the Brussels official that unless progress on a deal is made by the middle of the year, the UK could walk away from talks and revert to World Trade Organisation rules.
But the group, which also included ex-CBI chief Lord Jones of Birmingham, Labour Leave chairman John Mills and MEP Stephen Woolf, was accused of an embarrassing gaffe for the products it included.
Contained in the hamper were Marmite and PG Tips, which are owned by Unilever. The Anglo-Dutch company has been a critic of Brexit and has delayed choosing where to locate its new headquarters due to the referendum decision.
Hendrick’s Gin producer has moved its base to Dublin, while Fortnum and Mason has warned that Brexit has damaged Britain’s brand.
The move was ridiculed on social media and in Westminster. Caroline Lucas, Green MP and supporter of pro-EU group Best for Britain, said: “They have taken products to Barnier for a cheap stunt but helped made his case that Brexit will damage businesses and more importantly jobs in the UK.
“This hamper is a metaphor for the disaster that Brexit will be.”
Francis Grove-White, Deputy Director of Open Britain, added: “We have reached peak Brexit. Self-important charlatans marching around Brussels with hampers of quintessentially British products, many of which are owned by companies that have said they are deeply worried about the impact of Brexit, does nothing to further the national interest.”
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said: “This is a wonderfully cack-handed attempt to hamper relations with the EU’s chief negotiator.”
Following the meeting, Mr Barnier’s adviser Stefaan de Rynck, tweeted that the Dorset cheese enjoyed “EU protected origin” status.
Marmite – invented by a German and owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, which has raised a series of warnings over the impact Brexit will have on UK business.
PG Tips – also owned by Unilever. The company has delayed announcing the location of its headquarters due to fears around Brexit.
Hendrick’s Gin – produced by William Grant & Sons in Girvan, Scotland, it moved its base to Dublin for trading reasons.
Fortnum & Mason tea, piccalilli and marmalade – the boss of London’s flagship luxury department store warned last month that Brexit had damaged the UK’s brand and was struggling to find staff.
Dorset cheddar cheese – enjoys protected origin status provided by the EU. It is supplied by the Queen’s cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield, which sells as much European cheese as it does British.
Biography of Winston Churchill – Arguably the greatest Briton, Churchill called for a United States of Europe in 1946 and was never known to be a little Englander. Mr Barnier had just seen His Darkest Hour according to his aides.
Complete Works of Shakespeare – Difficult to say how he would have voted being dead for over 400 years but he set many of his plays across Europe and liberally stole from other European dramatists and writers.


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Microsoft has suffered a blow behind the bamboo curtain after a Chinese court ordered versions of Windows with a particular typeface withdrawn from sale.
Vole had an agreement with Chinese technology company, Zhongyi Electronic, which designs Chinese character fonts. However the court said that Vole violated the scope of licensing agreements and will have to stop selling its Chinese versions of its Windows 98, 2000, 2003 and Windows XP.
ATI has been talking about DirectX 11 for quite some time and the reason is quite simple – Nvidia doesn’t have it and ATI does. Today, we decided to show some results that we got in DiRT 2, one of the few games that support DirectX 11. DiRT 2 works in DirectX 9 or DirectX 11 mode, and the difference is a lot of features that you can read about on the next page. For DirectX 11 mode you need adequate hardware, or to be precise one of AMD's Evergreen family graphics cards.
As this year's holiday season unwinds from its climax over the past week and a half, many enthusiasts have been left wondering whether they have witnessed the full product offerings of the computer hardware industry, or if there is yet another wave of toys hiding under Santa's sleigh in some remote dimension of unawareness. We have already experienced the delay of Nvidia's Fermi architecture, the virulent paper launch of AMD's Radeon HD 5970, and the untimely delay of many capacitive multi-touch tablet notebooks and netbooks supporting Windows 7.
Chinese pirates are doing something that Microsoft didn't – they are starting to peddle versions of Windows 7 on a USB stick.
The Netac U208 8GB USB drives preloaded with Windows 7 are being sold for 98 yuan, or about $14, according to the Chinese website 163. The drive, ironically with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's signature on the outside was being flogged in Shenzhen.
According to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, 2009 was a horrible year for the gaming industry, as October sales plummeted 38 percent year-on-year.
PC retail sales in October went down to $27 million, but as always there is a catch. It appears Pachter's numbers did not include e-tail sales or online distribution sales. In contrast, console games were down 18 percent, from last year's $698 million to $573 million.
Acer has given the Google Chrome operating system the thumbs up and plans to jack it under the bonnet of a netbook, which the company has been developing since mid-2009 in the second half of 2010.
Digitimes quotes Acer chairman JT Wang saying he expects to be the first vendor to launch Chrome-based netbook in the market. Acer is a long term backer of Google Operating systems. It was the first top-tier vendor to launch a Google Android-based netbook in the market.
VIA Technologies has shown some quite interesting stuff this year and it's quite a shame that we haven't seen many of those concepts in retail, but once again managed to stun us with its announcement of the new Mobile-ITX form factor. The new form factor is 50 percent smaller than Pico-ITX and it basically fits in the palm of your hand, so this is something that will certainly have a bright future in niche markets.
Intel PM55 is the only chipset supporting Lynnfield processors, which include the current Core i5 and Nehalem-based Core i7 notebook chips. As of now, it is selling for $40 in quantities of 1,000.
Beginning in Q1 2010, Intel plans to launch an additional chipset within the x55 mainstream series (currently just P55) as well we three new x57 chipsets. The HM55 will match the PM55 in regards to price and it will sell for $40 in quantities of 1,000. Overall, this implies that there is not much difference between the two.
Well we can't say that such accusations are rare, since we keep seeing them pop up every now and then, and this time it's Nokia's turn as the mobile phone giant has decided to take action against alleged price fixing on the LCD market.
The Finland-based company has filed a suit in the US Disctrict court accusing the likes of Samsung Electronics, LG Display, Sharp, Hitachi and Chunghwa Picture Tubes of fixing prices on handset LCDs.
After AMD's recently launched Congo platform comes Nile, which is scheduled for launch in 2010. Congo codename got replaced to 2nd generation Ultrathin as some people were against the name because of a massive genocidal campaign in Congo, which claimed the lives of around 5 million people in the past decade. We can assure you that AMD was just thinking about cool codenames for its chips and didn’t have time to bother with politics.
Copyright 2016 © Godem Online Inc. | Web and server solutions by NewTech Solutions.


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Add Microsoft to the stack of iPhone killer wannabe. From Rachel Metz in AP:
Microsoft unveiled two cell phones Monday that are meant for social networking-savvy teens and twenty-somethings, in an attempt to revitalize its mobile business and regain ground on iPhones and BlackBerrys.
Remember Roz Ho? She once ran Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit.
Roz Ho, leader of the Microsoft team behind the Kin, said the company has been working on the Kin devices for several years, trying to create a handset for people who especially want to connect with others over social Web sites such as Facebook. The phones are also meant for people who want a handset that works simply, without forcing them to hunt through menus and icons.
Uh, doesn’t that describe the iPhone?


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LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Kush Klubs, a first of its kind monthly membership cannabis club, today announces its Los Angeles debut, starting with select California Cannabis Dispensaries signing on as the first affiliate dispensaries to participate. Through flexible membership pricing, consumers (21 and over) can join and receive up to a gram a day for just $5.14 per gram or more (depending on their monthly subscription level) from participating dispensaries.
Through Kush Klubs' powerful new business model, dispensary partners benefit through increased traffic, frequency, loyalty and revenue, while cannabis consumers gain access to high-quality flower below market rate. Additionally, Kush Klubs provides non-cannabis related benefits to neighboring businesses who participate in its loyalty partnerships that include promotional discount programs, events, and community relations through advocacy, information and education.
With nearly 55 million adult Americans using cannabis and approximately 188 licensed dispensaries throughout Los Angeles County alone, the illicit market still owns the majority of the market share, impacting potential tax benefits for the LA community along with the risk of potentially harmful products being distributed to consumers.
"We're proud to be known as the very first cannabis membership club offering really high value to consumers while also looking out for licensed dispensaries to increase their ROI – especially with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," said JP Fatta, founder and CEO of Kush Klubs. "Our value to the consumer and the dispensaries is already increased. As wages are tight and need for affordable, high-quality cannabis increases, we're helping consumers save money, while increasing traffic for participating dispensaries. Our aim is to help everyone in the cannabis food chain, from legally licensed dispensaries to the farmer and consumer as well, as we protect the ecosystem and ensure there's a win-win for everyone."
With three unique membership packages to choose from cannabis consumers can join for one flat monthly rate based on their individual preferences. Through their Kush Klubs membership, consumers can search for dispensaries, discover flower strains from trusted growers, reserve and then pick up their orders at the applicable dispensary of their choice.
Kush Klubs' electronic wallet, accessible via their website, makes for easy, cashless transactions. Additionally, each member receives credits at the beginning of each month that are built into their membership fee, which are redeemed via a quick scan upon walking in the door and picking up their pre-ordered/reserved product.
After the initial launch in Los Angeles, Kush Klubs plans to grow within California and beyond. The first California Cannabis dispensary locations include their Crenshaw (7415 Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90043), Boyle Heights (1601 S Soto St, Los Angeles, CA 90023), and Melrose (654 N. Manhattan Pl. Los Angeles CA 90004) stores. Virgil Grant, CEO and founder of California Cannabis, believes in the vision and mission of Kush Klubs and is in full support of this innovative program.
"This new program is going to change the game for licensed dispensaries everywhere," said Virgil Grant, Founder of California Cannabis and Co-Founder and President of the Southern California Coalition (SCC). "By choosing to be the first to participate in this program, I have no doubts this will give California Cannabis a competitive advantage in the cannabis market. I look forward to seeing the impact this will have on the industry and support what Kush Klubs is trying to do for dispensaries and cannabis consumers."
ABOUT KUSH KLUBS
Kush Klubs is the first monthly subscription cannabis club, with operations and ties throughout Los Angeles, California. By building a network of local businesses and looking to the community to get involved the company's innovative cannabis consumption model gives consumers flexible flat-rate pricing, while working directly with licensed dispensaries to help them increase traffic, purchase frequency, loyalty and revenue. Kush Klubs has created a win-win solution, benefitting both consumers and dispensaries.
SOURCE Kush Klubs


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Sonic Electronix, one of the leaders in car audio, recently visited Harman, the premium global audio and infotainment group, at their research and development locations in Northridge, California and Detroit, Michigan. The purpose of these visits was to utilize and combine the powerful brand of Harman and the industry leading knowledge behind Sonic Electronix to begin working together on developing future car audio projects. “We are extremely excited to work closely with Harman on these upcoming projects. They truly are a premier audio company that creates a quality product and we are honored to collaborate with them”, said Sonic Electronix Director of Product Seth Wilde.
Harman, the parent company of many well-known consumer electronics brands including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL and Mark Levinson, is one of the leaders in the consumer electronics industry. “We are very blessed at Harman to have some of the brightest and best engineers available in the audio industry. Combined with our physical resources we’re able to bring new technologies to bear in our products that can’t be done by most manufacturers,” said Harman Director of Marketing and Product Management for Luxury Audio and Loudspeakers Jim Garrett.
The benefits of these visits between Sonic Electronix and Harman will be wide felt throughout the car audio industry and the future joint projects will lead to some incredibly exciting new products for consumers. “With all of the input that Sonic Electronix can provide us of what their customer needs are, we’re able to create new products that are fitting the customer’s needs today and into the future,” said Haman Western Region Director of Sales Kelly Wells.
Harman’s overall electronics knowledge and resources combined with the established knowledge and car audio experience at Sonic Electronix makes for an incredibly promising partnership moving forward and several promising, yet to be announced projects are already moving forward in development. “Our hope is that these new products will fill unmet demand in the market, carry the signature Harman sound and bring out the passion for audio in our customers lives”, said Wilde.


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NEW DELHI, NOV 29, 2022
The premium segment of the smartphone market grew faster during the two weeks of Navratri and Dussehra compared to the preceding two weeks of Shraddh, according to the findings of GfK, a global leader in data and analytics. Other segments grew faster during the weeks of Dhanteras and Diwali.
According to the GfK report, smartphone sales increased by 40% during Navratri and Dussehra compared to Shradh. The premium segment and 5G-enabled devices drove the majority of the growth. 5G devices grew by 51% and accounted for 48% of the market during Navratri and Dussehra as compared to 24% contribution during the festival period in 2021. The sales contribution of 5G devices by value was around 75%.
When compared to Navratri and Dussehra weeks, Dhanteras and Diwali saw a 41% increase in smartphone volumes. The sub-15K price segment gained the most, with volumes increasing by more than 50% and contributing 24% to the overall Smartphone category (34% same period in 2021).
Anant Jain, Head of Market Intelligence, India at GfK, said: “This festive season, Indian smartphone shoppers were back in action, splurging after the mood-dampening COVID-19 pandemic in previous years. Every year, by the end of September, people do not shop due to Shradh, which is immediately followed by festivities. That is when people tend to splurge the most. GfK’s weekly report reflects interesting insights into the festive season. The premium smartphone segment during the same time period (Rs 40K+ segment) grew by 60%. Total smartphone category revenue grew by 38% where 6-6.5″ screen size contributed 54% by value and grew by 41%- during Navratri and Dussehra v/s Shraddh season this year.”
On the other hand, the GfK report shows that 4G device sales increased by 48% during Dhanteras and Diwali period while 5G only increased by 32%, indicating that manufacturers are clearing 4G-enabled inventory through support schemes. During this period, devices with 6.5-7″ screen size grew faster (61%) and contributed 50% to the overall smartphone category.


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Read the full story in the New York Times.
… the movement toward local food is creating a vibrant new economic laboratory for American agriculture. The result, with its growing army of small-scale local farmers, is as much about dollars as dinner: a reworking of old models about how food gets sold and farms get financed, and who gets dirt under their fingernails doing the work.
Bally Gaming Canada has posted its 2012 Product Stewardship Program plan. The program is designed to help them deal with the WEEE Directive regarding waste electronics.
Read the full story at GreenBiz.
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), the maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissue, aims to step up its sustainability actions in a serious way. The Irving, Texas-based company recently announced at the Rio+20 UN conference that it plans to halve its use of wood fiber sourced from natural forests by 2025.
Read the full story at GreenBiz.
It’s no secret that gamification has a big potential impact on the success of corporate sustainability efforts. The recent Gamification Summit (G Summit) in San Francisco was a turning point in this effort. It marked signs of the movement’s maturity, served as a ceremonial recognition in the continued integration between gamification and sustainability — and presented a new challenge in how to move this integration to the next level.
Read the full story at GreenBiz.
When it comes to reducing the environmental impacts of a business, the concept of pollution prevention is one of the most fundamentally important ideas in the sustainability guidebook.
The basic concept is simple: Pollution prevention (P2) aims to reduce or eliminate waste at the source by changing production processes, using non-toxic or less-toxic substances, implementing conservation techniques, and reusing materials instead of putting them in the waste stream.
P2 is a methodology that is critical to a company’s operations, and should be embedded in their strategic plan to streamline their manufacturing waste outputs and save costs and regulatory hassles at the same time.
So why isn’t P2 more widely adopted?
Although P2 is well known and has been used for years in some manufacturing sectors, there are still companies that describe their P2 efforts as implementing only recycling practices (cardboard, paper, etc.) or reducing energy usage.
Perhaps even more of a challenge is when P2 is associated with or used interchangeably with “pollution controls.” These “end of pipe” technologies are not considered to be P2 practices, because the use of pollution control technologies are more often than not driven by external factors like environmental regulations and compliance.
For example, there are potential fines and negative press for a company that exceeds its air permitting limits. In order to avoid these outcomes, companies implement a variety of process controls after the waste is already in existence so that their releases are below legal limits. In contrast, P2 practices focus reduction efforts on the source of the waste stream.
Read the full story in Waste Age.
Among the foremost challenges faced by waste and recycling services providers is educating the public about exactly what is and is not suitable for the recycling bin. Beyond that, many items that can be recycled don’t necessarily belong in a curbside bin. And if a package contains multiple components made of different materials, a single, nondescript recycling symbol does not make it clear which parts are recyclable or how to handle them.
Conundrums like these led the sustainability-focused nonprofit GreenBlue to develop the How2Recycle labeling system as part of its Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). The SPC boasts a range of manufacturers and retailers, including Yoplait, Esteé Lauder Companies, Sealed Air, BJ’s Wholesale Club, ConAgra Foods, Costco Wholesale, Microsoft, REI, Seventh Generation and manufacturer Ampac. The new labeling system is far more precise, detailing the material(s) in the packaging, its ability to be recycled and details on how to do so.
Oil Dispersants: Additional Research Needed, Particularly on Subsurface and Arctic Applications. GAO-12-585, May 30.
A new Energy Department report finds that LED lamps have a significantly lower environmental impact than incandescent lighting and a slight environmental edge over compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The report, LED Manufacturing and Performance, compares these three technologies from the beginning to the end of their life cycles—including manufacturing, operation, and disposal. The most comprehensive study of its kind for LED lamps, the new report analyzes the energy and environmental impacts of manufacturing, assembly, transport, operation, and disposal of these three lighting types, and is the first public report to consider the LED manufacturing process in depth. This report supports the Energy Department’s efforts to protect our air and water, boost American competitiveness in the race for clean energy, and help families and businesses save money on their energy bills.
This is the second report produced through a larger Energy Department project to assess the life-cycle environmental and resource costs of LED lighting products in comparison with traditional lighting technologies. The report uses the conclusions of the previous report, Review of the Lifecycle Energy Consumption of Incandescent, Compact Fluorescent and LED Lamps, released in February 2012, as a point of departure to produce a detailed, conservative assessment of the manufacturing process and use it to compare the three lighting technologies, taking into consideration a wider range of environmental impacts.
The first report concluded that CFLs and today’s LEDs are similar in energy consumption—both consuming significantly less electricity over the same period of usage than incandescent lighting—and that operating these products consumed the majority of the energy used throughout their life cycle. Similarly, the new report finds that the energy these lighting products consume during operation makes up the majority of their environmental impact, compared to the energy consumed in manufacturing and transportation. Because of their high efficiency—consuming only 12.5 watts of electricity to produce about the same amount of light as CFLs (15 watts) and incandescents (60 watts)—LED lamps were found to be the most environmentally friendly of the three lamp types over the lifetime of the products, across 14 of the 15 impact measures examined in the study.
Other key findings:
- CFLs were found to have a slightly higher environmental impact than today’s LED lamps on all measures except their contribution to landfills. The aluminum contained in an LED lamp’s large aluminum heat sink causes a greater impact on landfills because of the energy and resources consumed in manufacturing.
- The report projects that in five years, the environmental impacts of LEDs will be significantly lower than today’s LED products, based on expected near-term improvements in LED technology.
- As the market transitions from incandescent sources to energy-saving light sources that save consumers and business money, LEDs and CFLs are expected to achieve substantial reductions in environmental impacts–on the order of three to 10 times current levels.
To download a PDF of the report and view other market studies and technical reports on solid state lighting, go to the Solid State Lighting website.


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While single-chip SSDs are clearly known quantities, they usually run at a much more leisurely pace than their larger counterparts.
It's surely not the first contraption to bring an iDevice to a weapon, but the Inteliscope does appear to be one of the first to take itself seriously.
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news.
The Oculus team just got bigger by two, with software engineer Tom Forsyth, formerly of Valve, and robotic scientist Dr.
By now, all the developers who signed up to receive Glass prototypes should have the headgear in hand, so Google's ready to move on to the next phase.
With a wire transfer of $451.8 million, Elon Musk has finally made good on his promise to repay the hefty loan Tesla received from the Department of Energy well ahead of its 2022 due date, beating even Musk's own five-year estimate.
Last week, Microsoft's YouTube app for Windows Phone came under fire for not adhering to some of Google's requirements.
Foursquare knows that there's a lot more to a night on the town than a good search keyword.
HP just posted its Q2 financial report, and despite somber news of falling profits and revenue, the company managed to beat consensus estimates and the stock has jumped more than 10 percent in after-hours trading.
Twitter just boosted its security with a new two-factor login method.


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Harry Styles has been one of the most discussed celebrities in 2020 especially after appearing on the cover page of Vogue in a revolutionary appearance for men. The British heartthrob has been topping the list of most searched personality on Google in terms of fashion style.
Reportedly, the singer outranked prominent style icons by being dubbed as the most Googled style icon male. He surpassed the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Meghan Markle, and Lady Gaga.
Top Fashion Icons Of 2020 Searches On Google
There were a lot of big names in the list of top fashion icons of 2020 but Harry took the cake. According to released Google search data, Harry Styles was ranking on number 2 after singer Billie Eilish
However, he has taken over every style icon according to media reports. His style was most searched in around 17 countries. Most searches came from UAE, where people actively searched about Harry’s outfits more than other popular female personalities. Other countries included Australia, Mexico, Ireland, UK, and New Zealand.
Harry Styles Fashion This Year
Ex-One Directioner style was rather controversial in 2020 but garnered a lot of attention. He made history by appearing on the cover of Vogue magazine in a gender fluid outfit. Apparently he was the first solo male to make the cover in Vogue’s history
This was a custom-made Palomo powder blue suit with a frilled blouse. He also chose many jaw-dropping outfits throughout the year on occasions like Brit Awards, Watermelon Sugar music video, and BBC Radio 2. People wear different kinds of dresses to make a fashion statement and here Harry is taking inspiration from female outfits.
It shows how gender difference is irrelevant and unnecessary if men can don female outfits as well as women. This approach by Harry has been regarded as both bold and inspirational. However, Harry Styles latest fashion look remained a talk of the town in 2020 which otherwise had not so much to offer due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
Gender Fluidity The most important aspect of Harry’s attire was that it was gender-neutral. Opposite gender can also don these frivolous fashion.
In the last couple of years, climate change and focus on scarcity of the world’s resources has increased advocacy for sustainable dressing. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why frugal male fashion and frugal female fashions is witnessing a surge in popularity. However, now it seems that choice for dressing is also becoming the conscious for ideas of gender neutrality; as reflected in the dressing of Harry Styles.


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Plans to expand Abu Dhabi’s ports network are moving ahead as local cargo traffic holds steady despite the slowdown in global shipping volumes over the past year.
A series of recent announcements by government-owned operator Abu Dhabi Ports show its intent to boost capacity, introduce a new terminal operator and improve services for customers and nearby industrial tenants in the coming years.
These efforts should help prepare Abu Dhabi for future increases in cargo traffic, especially with the recent rebound in commodity prices and global trade, of which 90% is carried by international shipping.
In April worldwide exports of merchandise reached $1.41trn, the highest monthly total since October 2014, according to the World Trade Organisation.
Upgrade at Khalifa Port
Since it opened in 2012 the emirate’s main sea link, Khalifa Port, has seen substantial volume increases. In 2015 it became the world’s second-fastest-growing container port after volumes reached 1.5m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year, up 32% on the previous year.
At the end of last year the port’s operator, Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), announced it had moved a total of 5m TEUs since inauguration and that volumes in the first half of 2016 were up by another 11% year-on-year.
“[Full-year] 2016 figures were much tempered from the double-digit numbers we saw in recent years,” Abdulkareem Al Masabi, executive vice-president of the ports unit at Abu Dhabi Ports and chairman of ADT, told OBG. “But it is still much better than most in the region, with many ports seeing contraction and delaying expansion plans.”
Current capacity at Khalifa Port sits at 2.5m TEUs per annum, alongside 12m tonnes of general cargo. In the short term, it will benefit from plans to add 1000 metres of quay wall, build another 600,000 sq meters of space for handling general cargo, and deepen its main channel from 16 to 18 metres.
New terminal operator
In the longer term, expansion will be driven by the introduction of a second terminal operator: COSCO Shipping Ports.
Under a 35-year concession agreement, COSCO – the largest such company in China, operating 46 terminals and 169 berths around the world – will build an additional 1200 meters of quay wall and adjacent land, finishing the first 800 metres by mid-2018 and the rest in 2020.
Besides improving competition and attracting business, the expansion is set to add 2.4m TEUs per annum to Khalifa Port’s capacity.
“COSCO will consider Khalifa Port as their main hub in the region, which will drive volumes higher and freight costs lower, bringing more volume to our ports,” Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports, told OBG. “It is a huge marketing tool for our tenants, as they will now have an international player on their doorstep that links them to the entire world.”
In a bid to entice new customers while catering to new tenants at its adjacent industrial land, Abu Dhabi Ports has moved to improve services at both Khalifa Port and its 417-sq-km industrial zone, KIZAD.
Across its facilities, the company has continued to expand its Maqta Gateway “port community system”, a digital platform that connects stakeholders and shares key information in real time. Launched late last year, the system automates all vessel management processes, from vehicle registration and voyage declaration to call requests, port clearance requests and marine services.
In the medium term, Abu Dhabi Ports plans to automate truck landings and shuttle carriers used for horizontal transport at Khalifa Port.
“This will really give us a leg up on competition in the region by making us a full-fledged, semi-automated port,” Al Masabi told OBG.
After a challenging 2016, the outlook for shipping companies has begun to look more promising. Data released by Container Trades Statistics in mid-May showed global volumes in the first quarter of 2017 were up 10% year-on-year driven by stronger growth in China – a sharp departure from average quarterly growth of around 2.3% since 2015.


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Durham dog treats maker drooling over prospect of Super Bowl ad
Posted January 20, 2014
Durham, N.C. — Barley Labs could be big business come next month if the Durham-based maker of organic dog treats wins coveted commercial air time during Super Bowl XLVIII.
Intuit Inc., an accounting software provider, hosted a contest to provide a small business with a free 30-second ad during the Super Bowl and drew some 15,000 entrants. The public and Intuit employees voted and whittled the field down, and Barley Labs is among the four finalists.
"Literally, a wall of people showed up at our house – knock! knock! – to let us know that we were in," company co-founder Theresa Chu said Monday. "It's exciting. It's overwhelming."
The winner will be announced at the end of the month, so Chu and boyfriend and Barley Labs co-founder Scott Beaudry couldn't go into detail about their ad. Ads for the three finalists that don't win the Super Bowl spot will be aired on the Fox Sports Network.
Beaudry, 39, a data analyst at North Carolina State University, came up with the idea of organic dog treats two years ago as a way to dispose of leftover barley grains from his hobby of brewing beer at home.
"I think it's pretty straightforward – we love beer, we love dogs. I think a lot of people love beer and dogs," Beaudry said.
He and Chu, 33, a communications specialist at a Durham nonprofit, mixed up batches of biscuits in cheese, pumpkin and peanut butter flavors, naming their start-up after their dog, Barley, which now is vice president of quality control for the treats.
"It's a simple, all-natural product that I think people can really get behind feeding their dogs. Their little 'fur children' deserve good treats," Beaudry said.
Chu said they were able to sell some online and get onto some store shelves because of a move among pet owners to know what their dogs and cats are eating. But the Intuit contest generated more business as the company survived one elimination round after another.
"Just from the exposure from the contest, we have gained retailers from outside North Carolina that we never thought we would get," she said.
In anticipation of a flood of orders after the Super Bowl, the couple is scouting out manufacturing facilities in Durham.


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The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered provincial officials of Misamis Oriental to stop deducting from its disaster funds payments for monthly salaries and extra services of job order employees.
COA, in its 2019 annual audit report for the province, also called for the deduction in the cost of various medical and laboratory supplies the liquidated damages for the delayed delivery of some P3.56 million of the supplies last year.
The audit agency submitted its annual audit report to Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, through COA Regional Director Celso L. Vocal.
A post audit conducted on the disbursements from the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund in 2019 showed that the provincial government spent some P1.63 million for payment of salaries and allowances of employees.
The said payments were charged against the Local Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Fund which was inconsistent with the provisions of Republic Act 10121 governing the utilization of the fund.
“The charging of salaries and extra services rendered of the Job Order Employees to the Calamity Fund was unlawful and have violated the guidelines provided (for) under Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010,” the audit body added.
COA said the provincial government should discontinue such practice.
Examining Misamis Oriental’s compliance to Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act, state auditors noted that some P3.56 million worth of drugs, medicines, and laboratory supplies were not delivered by suppliers on the dates specified in the contract.
Auditors said the delayed delivery should have entitled the province deduction on the contract price as provided for under RA 9184.
“However, the team’s actual inspection and based on the actual delivery receipts and inventory reports of the provincial hospitals, data showed that the actual deliveries were made beyond the specified dates in the contract,” COA stated.
To address the issue, COA told the provincial officials to “calculate and deduct” from the suppliers claim of payment the amount of liquidated damages as provided for under RA 9184.
COA also recommended the suspension of suppliers who violated the terms of their contracts by delaying the delivery of the supplies purchased by the province.


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Blizzard has been developing PC games exclusively for some time, but that changed today with the announcement of Diablo 3 for Sony's PS4.
Blizzard's senior vice president of story and franchise development, Chris Metzen, took the stage to announce that Diablo 3 will be released not only for the PS4, but for PS3 as well, and that more will be revealed "in the coming months."
The controls and features have been optimized for consoles, including single-screen four-player co-op.
"Diablo 3 has never been easier to play," Metzen said.
The devil in Sony
Diablo 3 was released last year for Windows and Mac, following in the footsteps of previous Blizzard titles like Diablo 2, World of Warcraft, and Stacraft 2.
But as Metzen pointed out, Blizzard got its start developing console games, and he said the developer is excited to begin branching out beyond the PC again with Diablo 3 for PlayStation 4 and PS3.
He did not reveal any concrete release details, but said that the console version of Diablo 3 will appear again "in the coming months."
PlayStation 4 launch titles
Developers ranging from LittleBigPlanet creators Media Molecule to the studios behind Killzone and Infamous, and even indie developer Jonathan Blow, took the stage in New York on Wednesday evening to discuss upcoming PS4 games.
The titles revealed include Killzone: Shadow Fall, Infamous: Second Son, Drive Club, and Knack.
Bungie was on hand to talk more about Destiny, the Halo successor revealed last week, as well as other developers talking about new and upcoming projects.
Read more about the PS4's launch games and watch out for all the PlayStation 4 news you can handle right here.


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Instagram announced it is testing Templates, a new feature that will allow users to make Reels by borrowing formats from other posts.
According to The Verge, an early version of the feature was spotted in March 2022, when a marketing manager and influencer Josephine Hill flaunted the feature on a Twitter post.
Instagram REELS announced a new feature! “Use as template” allows user to replace the clips with your own and it will match the time stamps of the template reel. Let me know what you think of this feature. Does this make you want to create more reels? pic.twitter.com/rLMJAX89jG
— Jo Millie (@JosephineMedia) March 26, 2022
Hill, according to The Verge, pointed out that the new feature could save users from having to rely on third-party apps like Canva and watching online tutorials to achieve a specific format.
“We are always working on new ways to make Reels simpler to create,” a Meta spokesperson said.
“We are testing the ability for you to make a reel using an existing Template from another reel,” Meta added.
Meta reportedly said that it is testing the feature at the moment with a very small group of users.
This comes after the Meta-owned platform’s relentless fight to crack down on TikTok reposts on the Reels.
“We’re building on what we’ve learned from Explore to recommend fun and entertaining videos in places like the Reels tab, and personalize the experience,” a Meta spokesperson said last year.
Narasimhan said at the time that a survey revealed that users have a less satisfied Reels experience when content is recycled from other apps or when the videos are blurry. According to reports, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri emphasised the topic of removing TikTok watermarked content on the app in a recent statement.
By Zintle Nkohla
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Hunar Online Courses, a SkillTech online learning platform that empowers women by helping them learn new skills in fashion, food, photography, and interior design, and become financially independent, today announced it has joined hands with the actress and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra as its investor and brand ambassador.
Through this partnership, Hunar aims to cement and scale the four pillars of its platform – offering a holistic and outcome-focused learning experience, leveraging and building its vast community, providing gigs and work-from-home opportunities, and creating business opportunities for its students.
Hunar has recognised the massive potential of this underserved market of more than 340 million Indian women. It intends that this collaboration will enable one lakh Indian women, to achieve financial independence by next year through better skilling and entrepreneurship opportunities. Since its inception in 2018, it has been uniquely positioned and supported by a loyal community of 20 lakh+ women to become the singular authority on skilling and empowering Indian women, helping them become micropreneurs / solopreneurs.
Hunar’s community consists of women who harbour similar desires and challenges. Through this platform, they are presented with opportunities that help them come together to engage, learn, share and support each other.
Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Bollywood Actress, Health and Wellness Influencer, and Entrepreneur, said, “Empowering the women of India with skills to become financially independent has always been a dream for me. As an independent woman, I believe that financial independence and having a personal source of income are important for the woman, her family, and the country. When I attended the Hunar Fashion Show as a Chief Guest, I saw first-hand the impact that Hunar’s team was creating, and I wanted to join them as an investor and a brand ambassador.”
Nishtha Yogesh, Founder and CEO of Hunar Online Courses, said, “India has the potential to grow its GDP exponentially when India’s women are provided with the right platform to learn, grow, and earn an income. Women want to be financially independent and recognised for their skills but do not have easy access to opportunities to learn or earn. Our goal has always been to offer a safe and encouraging ecosystem wherein Indian women can learn multiple skills from home, create their designs or products and gain recognition and financial independence. We are excited to have Shilpa join our journey. She is a strong supporter of our mission, and together we hope to encourage more and more women to bring out the entrepreneurs in them.”
Through its wide array of courses in Fashion, Food, Beauty and Photography, Hunar aims to enable and empower these women by lending them the required support at every stage of their journey through expert faculty, dedicated student guides, entrepreneurship mentors and access to a vast community of like-minded women. Additionally, Hunar’s students get ample exposure and guidance through celebrity mentors like the four-time national award-winning fashion designer Neeta Lulla and acclaimed photographer Avinash Gowariker so that the students get to learn from the best.
Earlier, Hunar joined hands with national brands like ITC Aashirvaad Atta and Naturals Salon to empower women. Recently, it held its annual fashion show, for which it received 10,000 design submissions, 200+ students were selected to display their collections in front of more than 15,000 audiences, and more than one million votes were received from all over India. Also, it hosted India’s largest online graduation ceremony in India, where over 6,000 women received their certificates and gained national recognition in one day.
Students of Hunar Online Courses have access to 55+ video-based online skill courses in the fashion, food, and beauty segments. These basic-to-advance courses are pre-recorded classes with live virtual masterclasses and webinars by certified teachers and industry experts. Hunar Online Courses has a growing community of more than 20 lakh women and over 45,000 students, out of which 30 per cent are running their enterprises successfully, earning up to INR 50,000 every month.


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Where to buy bitcoins is one of those chicken-and-egg issues that has slowed the broader adoption of the digital currency.
Physical locations where you can buy bitcoins have been scarce as relatively few people use them. At the same time, many new Bitcoin users may be reluctant to jump in while places to buy bitcoins remain few in number.
For Bitcoin to catch on in a major way, it needs to be more widely available.
At this point, Bitcoin enthusiasts can only buy the cryptocurrency from online Bitcoin exchanges, still-rare Bitcoin ATMs (there are only 412 Bitcoin ATMs on the entire planet), or from other fans of the currency by meeting up with them in person.
Now imagine if places where you can buy bitcoins were as common as bank ATMs or convenience stores.
In some countries, that's already happening.
Earlier this year a company called CoinPlug started selling its okBitcards at more than 24,000 convenience stores in South Korea.
For now, the okBitcard is actually a paper receipt that's purchased at the register for a set amount of South Korean won (10,000, 20,000, or 30,000). The receipt contains a code to be typed into the CoinPlug smartphone app, which transfers the purchased bitcoins to the user's account.
CoinPlug is ramping up to a system in which it will sell physical cards in the convenience stores.
The company expanded the idea further in March through a partnership with the bank ATM maker, Nautilus Hyosung. Modified ATMs will have okBitcard as an option to buy Bitcoin with a credit card. These machines also spit out a paper receipt with a code.
CoinPlug plans to extend the service to nearby countries, starting with major cities.
But South Korea isn't the only country with innovative answers to the question of where to buy bitcoins...
Where to Buy Bitcoins Around the World
BTCPoint has partnered with four major banks in Spain to allow users to get fiat cash in exchange for their bitcoins, a task just as important as being able to buy bitcoins with fiat.
BTCPoint's service is available at 10,000 bank-owned ATMs in Spain. The company is working on adding the ability to buy bitcoins as well.
Meanwhile, a company called Chip Chap has contributed heavily to the global list of where to buy bitcoins. Chip Chap's service also is available on 10,000 bank ATMs in Spain. In April the company expanded the service to 4,000 bank ATMs in Poland.
Chip Chap could soon offer its full service in England and France.
The Chip Chap system is similar to the CoinPlug system. Users turn fiat cash into vouchers that get converted into Bitcoin via a smartphone app. But Chip Chap's vouchers can also be converted back to fiat.
The company has already branched out beyond Europe to Mexico.
In Mexico, the Chip Chap service is available not through ATMs but 5,000 merchants, including 7-Eleven. Because many Spanish banks operate in Latin America, the company hopes bring the service to many more countries in that region.
Other corners of the world have also added such services. Two companies in tiny Taiwan, BitoEX and Maicoin, allow users to buy bitcoins at 10,000 convenience stores.
This kind of Bitcoin-buying revolution has also landed in the United States, but on a smaller scale. LibertyX offers the ability to buy bitcoins at 2,500 locations in 33 states.
To find the locations near you, just visit the company website and type your zip code into the interactive map. (This works with the LibertyX iPhone app as well.)
[epom key="ddec3ef33420ef7c9964a4695c349764" redirect="" sourceid="" imported="false"]
Like many of the others, the LibertyX system uses a printed receipt with a code you can input at the company website or via the iPhone app. Users can't buy any amount of Bitcoin, but must chose a preset amount of $50, $100, $200, or $300.
In addition to expanding this network, LibertyX has hopes of being the company that brings Bitcoin to bank-owned ATMs in the United States.
"I think that Bitcoin is a great add-on and should be integrated into all ATMs. It doesn't make sense to have a new machine when all that's required is additional lines of code," LibertyX co-founder Chris Yim told CoinDesk last December. "I for one would love to work with any ATM or banking partners that are looking to deploy this."
As demand for Bitcoin grows over the next few years, expect to see an explosion of new places to buy the digital currency. Before too long, where to buy bitcoins will cease to be an issue.
A Bitcoin by Any Other Name: Looking for a Bitcoin stock symbol is not as straightforward as you might think. Technically speaking, there's no such thing as a "Bitcoin stock symbol," although there are several tickers associated with Bitcoin. That's why we've put together all the known Bitcoin stock symbols in one handy list...
Follow me on Twitter @DavidGZeiler.
About the Author
David Zeiler, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including 18 spent at The Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a writer, editor, and page designer at different times in his career. He's interviewed a number of well-known personalities - ranging from punk rock icon Joey Ramone to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Over the course of his journalistic career, Dave has covered many diverse subjects. Since arriving at Money Morning in 2011, he has focused primarily on technology. He's an expert on both Apple and cryptocurrencies. He started writing about Apple for The Sun in the mid-1990s, and had an Apple blog on The Sun's web site from 2007-2009. Dave's been writing about Bitcoin since 2011 - long before most people had even heard of it. He even mined it for a short time.
Dave has a BA in English and Mass Communications from Loyola University Maryland.


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EU antitrust regulators are set to fine Nippon Yusen KK (NYK) and several other Japanese shippers as well as Norwegian Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics ASA (WWL) in the coming weeks for rigging bids for shipping cars, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The EU sanctions follow a near six-year investigation which started with dawn raids by the European Commission in September 2012 in coordination with Japanese and U.S. antitrust authorities.
Competition regulators around the world have penalised a number of shippers in recent years for fixing prices and dividing the markets for shipping cars and other products on various routes.
Norwegian shipping company Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA confirmed at the time the raids at its 50 percent-owned Wallenius Wilhelmsen unit and EUKOR, in which it has a 40 percent stake.
Other shippers involved in the case include K Line (Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd) and Mitsui O.S.K Lines, the people said.
The Commission, which can penalise companies up to 10 percent of their global turnover for breaching EU antitrust rules, said at the time that the services under investigation included shipping cars, construction materials and agricultural machinery. It did not name the companies.
Japan No. 1 container shipper NYK, K Line and Mitsui in their 2017 annual reports said they were being investigated by competition authorities in Europe.
The EU competition authority and WWL declined to comment. European subsidiaries of the Japanese shippers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Their parent companies were not immediately available to comment outside office hours.
WWL took a $200 million provision for all its antitrust cases in the third quarter of 2015, of which $98.5 million was for a U.S. fine, $34 million for a Japanese sanction and $7 million for a Chinese penalty. EUKOR was fined $44 million in the Chinese case.
Australia fined and convicted NYK last year for operating a cartel over vehicle transport to the country.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission in March 2014 handed down fines to NYK, K Line, WWL and Nissan Motor Car Carrier for fixing prices of auto shipments from Japan to North America, Europe and the Middle East while Mitsui escaped a sanction.
(Additional reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord, editing by David Evans)


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Better Place’s new owner looks to sell remaining fleet of electric cars
Troubled electric car infrastructure firm did not manage to clear the fleet through customs before going bankrupt; though never used some are damaged due to neglect.
The company that acquired the financially troubled electric car infrastructure firm Better Place has begun the process of selling off the company’s stock of Renault electric cars.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google on Thursday took the wraps off its virtual reality strategy at its I/O developer conference and gave enterprises a look at what could be their next marketing or training tool.
The company on Wednesday announced Daydream, a platform for high-quality mobile virtual reality. Set to be released this fall, Daydream is focused on creating VR experiences on Android devices, though Google noted that "over time" it will be used for a variety of devices.
"With Daydream, we've also created a reference design for a comfortable headset and an intuitive controller," said Nathan Martz, Google's Daydream product manager. "And, yes we're building one, too. The headset and controller work in tandem to provide rich, immersive experiences."
Martz did not give a time frame for when Google would be able to put a headset and controller in users' hands, nor was a unit shown on stage or an image of a prototype.
Daydream also is not yet ready, with no timeframe for when it will be.
"I think virtual reality is going to be driven by mobile," said John Riccitiello, CEO of San Francisco-based Unity Technologies, which is working with Google on VR. "Twice as many people have access to mobile devices than PCs. It's just math."
Advancing virtual reality technologies will enrich people's lives by allowing them to experience things they otherwise never would, Riccitiello said.
"I don't think VR is going to be about games and simple shopping apps," he said. "You blink and you're in the Taj Mahal. You blink again and you're at 10,000 feet and soaring on the wing tips of a plane. Blink again and you're in a classroom taking a physics class from your favorite professor at Cal Tech or you're talking with your best friend 1,000 miles away but it's like you're sitting on the couch together."
However, some at the developer conference said the company's work with virtual reality will go beyond chatting with friends and virtually visiting the Taj Mahal.
VR could become the next big tool for the enterprise.
"It's all going to be possible," Riccitiello said. "Think about shopping online except it will be social and you can try clothes on an avatar with your physical dimensions."
Brian Blau, an analyst with market research firm Gartner, said enterprise executives, like most people, are still somewhat confused about virtual reality and augmented reality and what the technologies could add to a business.
However, as they begin to figure it out, new possibilities will open up.
According to Blau, the first uses of VR will likely be in marketing and real estate.
Potential customers could use virtual reality to get a sense of space and place. They could use VR to take a next-to-reality tour of a property even though they're across the country.
Dinesh Ganesan, a consultant with Octo Consulting Group, which works with government agencies, said his clients haven't asked him about virtual reality, but he will be talking to them about it.
"They talked about a conference meeting. You want to have a real experience. We can talk from a remote [place], but we can feel like we're standing next to each other," he told Computerworld. "Maybe use this for training. They can build a simulator with a VR experience."
Using virtual reality in areas such as corporate training or to teach workers how to use machinery, will be a big asset, even though VR is a consumer-first technology, Blau said.
"Instead of flying somebody out to train them on a complex piece of equipment, have them use it virtually first," Blau said. "It cuts the time they have to be onsite. You could increase the amount of people you can train because you're training them 75% or 80% on virtual reality and 20% on actually being there."
He also said VR could quickly be inserted into businesses like Airbnb, a website for list, finding and renting accommodations.
"If you're on Airbnb and you're trying to rent a house for a $1,000 a week, somebody could do a VR walk-through of your house that's more realistic than a 3D walk-through on a PC," Moorhead said. "We're two years from 10% of businesses using VR, five years from probably 40% or 50%. They're going to see the cost savings. There will be a new bar in customer service. People will have bigger expectations."


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Omnicom has wiped the floor with its rivals in the 2016 new business stakes, according to marketing consultant R3 Worlwide. Unlike 2015 creative and digital reviews took precedence over media reviews by value but Omnicom agencies topped both tables as well as the holding company one. In total it added nearly $1bn of new business, equivalent to 6.5 per cent of its previous revenue.
R3 collected and individually ranked more than 8,000 new business wins across creative, media and digital agencies globally, covering nearly $3b in revenue. R3 principal and co-founder Greg Paull says: “Despite 2015’s numerous headlines dubbing it the year of ‘Media-palooza,’ we’ve actually seen more overall activity this year across the board. 2016 saw a 16 per cent increase in the number of media agency new business wins, and a nine per cent increase for creative agencies.”
WPP came second (which is never good enough for WPP) with a particularly weak performance by its media agencies. MediaCom, its biggest, went into reverse in 2016, losing £2bn VW to Omnicom’s table-topper PHD which also won most of Unilever. Omnicom’s new Hearts & Science media agency followed, winning Procter & Gamble and AT&T in North America.
Creatively BBDO and DDB led the field ahead of WPP’s Ogilvy. Droga5 and, surprisingly perhaps, Dentsu’s Mcgarrybowen also made the top list.
Here are some excerpts from the full R3 report.


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Headlines BRUSSELS TAKES TOUGH STANCE ON GOOGLE
Overview BRUSSELS TAKES TOUGH STANCE ON GOOGLE Google must change the way it presents search results in Europe or face antitrust charges for “diverting traffic” to its own services, the European Union’s competition chief said.
UPS MOVE ON TNT POSES CONCERN United Parcel Service’s planned takeover of TNT Express poses serious competition problems that are “not easy” to resolve, the EU’s competition chief said.
RBS EYES BONUS POT TO RECOUP LIBOR LOSSES Royal Bank of Scotland is considering recouping half of its imminent regulatory penalty for Libor abuses from the 2012 bonus pool of its investment bankers.
DECISION TO KEEP STATUS QUO ON RPI CHEERS BOND MARKETS The inflation-protected government bond market cheered an unexpected decision by the UK’s national statistics body no to tamper with a key index used to measure price changes.
FORMER UBS BOSSES DENY LIBOR KNOWLEDGE Four former top executive at Swiss bank UBS have denied all knowledge of Libor manipulation during their tenures.
BOLLAND VOWS TO STAY ON AT M&S Marc Bolland has pledged to stay on as chief executive of Marks & Spencer in a year’s time, despite facing growing pressure after poor Christmas clothing sales.
GENERALI TO OUTLINE PLANS FOR EMERGING MARKETS PUSH Italian insurer Generali will next week unveil plans to strengthen its focus on developing markets such as China and Latin America.
HOSTILE TAKEOVERS SLUMP TO DECADE LOW Hostile takeovers have fallen to a decade low globally in a sign of how lacklustre confidence among corporate leaders is reining in dealmaking.


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HYDERABAD: LPG supply in the city has been hit over the past week. A maintenance problem in a Chennai pipeline has adversely impacted supplies to Gas Authority of India Limited
(GAIL) pipeline in Visakhapatnam. As result, bottling units in Cherlapally, which supplies LPG to city, have not been able to meet demands. Suppliers say the issues will continue for a few more days.
“The problem began a few days ago, and we are told that some problem in Chennai pipeline has impacted supplies to Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad,“ Ashok Kumar, City Gas Dealers Association president said.
According to oil companies, the city needs around 2,000 tonnes of LPG every day. With supplies running short, only 1,000 tonnes are being received.There is at least a four to five day backlog when it comes to cylinder supply .
Customers, for their part, are upset that gas supply has been hit. “This problem happened in December last year and during Diwali last year for 10 days. Now again, we are short of supplies,“ Sumita Nanda
, a resident of Dilsukhnagar, said.Many demand that such gaps in supply be intimated in advance.
“Some people may be out of town and they may need a refill, and suddenly they come to know of a supply problem,“ said Chandrakala, a resident of Gandhi Nagar. While the city is grappling with shortage of cooking gas
, sales of LPG used for autos jumped by almost 24.8% in Telangana in the three months between October and December 2016, following a reduction in prices of the clean fuel. According to Suyash Gupta
, director general of the Indian Auto LPG Coalition
(IAC), leading oil companies since October 2016, reduced the auto LPG price to make it cost 50%lesser than petrol. This has led to a jump nationally in sales.


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Intel announced its Q2 2019 financial earnings today as the company continues to grapple with a nagging shortage of production capacity that impacts low-end processors and as it faces a renewed AMD's new lineup of Ryzen 3000-series processors. Intel also faces challenges borne of the ongoing trade war and new additions to the U.S.'s entity list, but the company still posted solid results that outstripped analyst expectations. As expected following any good news, Intel's stock is currently up 6% in after-hours trading.
Intel's 2Q 2019 revenue weighed in at $16.5 billion, a 3% reduction year-over-year (YoY), but that outstripped projections by $900 million. As a result, Intel increased its full-year revenue guide by $500 million. Intel also announced a $1 billion deal to sell most of its 5G modem business to Apple.
Swan noted that some anxiety over the status of the US entity list and the trade war, which injects some uncertainty into the company's outlook. As per usual, the company did not respond, beyond generalities, to questions about the competitive pressure it is facing from AMD.
Desktop PC sales volume slid 4% quarter-over-quarter, for a total of 9% YoY, which Intel attributed to the continuing shortage of 14nm production capacity that the company says has lasted "longer than expected." As such, the company has reduced its small-core CPU output (think Atom, Pentium) to focus on selling higher-margin products, but that has come at the erosion of sales on the low end.
It's rational to expect that AMD soaked up some of that market share, but we'll have to wait for both AMD's earnings call next week (and third-party analyst reports) to gauge how much of this share loss came at the expense of AMD's processors. In either case, Intel's stronger mix of high-margin products that carry higher average selling prices (ASPs) helped offset the reduction in desktop processor sales. All told, Intel's desktop PC revenue was up 1% YoY.
Intel noted that its Ice Lake processors have passed qualification and are now shipping. Swan also said that yields are improving as the company continues to work more products through its two active 10nm foundries. The company cited continued investments in its 10nm ramp, along with investments in the following 7nm process that it says will come to market in 2021, as weighing on its operating margins.
Intel also experienced softness in its sales of data center processors, with its Data Center Group (DCG) revenue falling 10% YoY, which the company attributed to continuing 'capacity consumption' from its customers, meaning they are still deploying processors bought in prior quarters (mostly stockpiles built up before the then-looming trade war), and plummeting sales to enterprises and governments, primarily in China. Again, Intel noted that increased ASPs helped blunt the blow.
Intel CEO Bob Swan also noted during the call that the company had ceased shipping processors to some customers due to additions to the U.S. Entity List, which means the US government has blocked those sales, but that it had resumed shipments to several as-yet-unnamed customers impacted by the restrictions.
Swan said that production on 10nm Ice Lake data center processors would begin in the first half of 2020, with volume production expected in the second half of that year.
Intel's Non-volatile Storage Group (DCG) took the heaviest hit with a 13% revenue reduction YoY, which comes as the result of an ongoing NAND glut that has seen ASPs decline tremendously.
Intel's continuous diversification efforts have also found it investing heavily in other segments, such as its 5G modem business, which the company announced that it had sold to Apple today for $1 billion in a deal that allows Intel to retain access to much of its IP for PC, IoT, and autonomous driving segments.


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UK economy's major engine stalls as household spending falls for the first time since 2012
- Consumer spending for 2017 was 0.3% down on 2016, according to Visa
- Spending in December down by 1% compared to the same month in 2016
- The brunt of the consumer squeeze fell on the High Street
The major engine behind the UK's stuttering economy stalled last year as household spending fell for the first time since 2012, a survey revealed today.
Consumer spending for 2017 was 0.3 per cent down on the previous year according to Visa's UK Consumer Spending Index - its worst performance in five years.
The festive season saw households holding back compared to last year with spending in December down by 1 per cent compared to the same month in 2016.
'Christmas rounded off a lean year for retailers with consumer spending seeing its first consistent 12-month decline since 2012,' said Mark Antipof, chief commercial officer at Visa.
And that wasn't explained by the Black Friday effect as spending in November was also 0.9 per cent down on November 2016.
The brunt of the consumer squeeze fell on the High Street as online spending increased by 2 per cent annually in December.
Face-to-face spending - whether on the high street, in supermarkets, shopping centres or retail estates - saw an annual fall of 2.7 per cent.
Annabel Fiddes, principal economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the report, said: 'Spending over the course of 2017 fell slightly on an annual basis for the first time in five years.
'The sustained drop in expenditure comes at a time when household purchasing power is being continually eroded by rising living costs and relatively subdued growth in pay packets.
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'Meanwhile, consumer confidence remains relatively muted amid uncertainties over the strength of the UK economy and the ongoing Brexit negotiations.'
She said looking ahead, while there could be some relative uplift in the spending figures 'it seems unlikely that expenditure will bounce back to the levels of growth seen in 2016 anytime soon'.
Looking at different types of spending in December, households' spending on transport and communication fell by 4.4 per cent annually, while spending on household goods decreased by 3.4 per cent and spending on clothing and footwear fell by 2.4 per cent over the same period.
Spending on recreation and culture fell by 1.8 per cent annually - the fourth month in a row of falls.
Spending on hotels, restaurants and bars remained a 'bright spot', the report said, with spending up by 4.7 per cent annually in December - marking a five-month high.
Food and drink retailers saw spending increase for the first time since September, albeit at a relatively small annual rate of 0.4 per cent.
Mark Antipof, chief commercial officer at Visa, said: 'Christmas rounded off a lean year for retailers with consumer spending seeing its first consistent 12-month decline since 2012.
'December's consumer spending figures confirm our earlier prediction that the UK would see its first fall in overall Christmas spending in five years.'
He continued: 'Despite some large retailers signalling a strong Christmas performance, it is clear that the high street has suffered recently, while online spending has held up.
'This is emphasised by the torrid year for face-to-face expenditure, which continued in December as face-to-face spending was again outstripped by e-commerce, a trend we have witnessed in 11 of the last 12 months.'
The index uses spending on Visa cards as a base and adjusts the figures to reflect all consumer spending, not just that on cards.
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Facebook Launches Promoted Stories
Facebook is rolling out Sponsored Stories, a new way for brands to turn your friends’ interactions into promoted content.
Sponsored Stories will displace ad messages that are purely promotional copy in favor of ads that report on user actions. It is “a way for marketers to sponsor activities that happen throughout the News Feed,” said a Facebook executive. Essentially brands choose to take certain user actions — such as checkins or actions within Facebook apps — and feature them in the column on the right side of the News Feed.
“It’s about taking the word of mouth recommendations and endorsements that are happening across Facebook every day and increasing the distribution of those,” said Jim Squires, a product marketing lead at Facebook, according to Adweek.
The four types of user actions can be turned into promoted stories are: likes, checkins, actions within apps and page posts. A company with a custom app can promote the actions users take within the app as well as posting on the walls of the page. Sponsored Stories is similar to Twitter Promoted Tweets, with one key difference: the user defines the advertised content that they see in Facebook’s format, not the advertiser.
The service rolls out today to certain managed accounts and will be available to self-service accounts in the next few weeks. Major brands such as Coke, Playfish and Anheuser Bush are Facebook partners rolling out on the initial launch.
Here is Facebook promotional video for the service.


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A slight departure from my usual “communities & collaboration” theme, but given the growing trends for mobile working and BYOD, I thought this might be relevant.
Apple likes to generate tons of hype for every new release, but the announcement of the iOS 7 beta has more than a few people talking. Apple told tech geeks the second beta version will be available for developers to examine, says PC Mag. The company claims this new iOS is the most important thing it has done since the iPhone.
Apple made its announcement at the recent Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Apparently there wasn’t enough time to discuss other developments, like its much-hyped Apple TV. However, it certainly has iPhone and iPad users everywhere sitting up, as some of the new features look extremely exciting.
The Intent of iOS 7
Apple offers a comprehensive look at iOS 7 on its website, where the company discusses the intentions behind the new operating system. Apple explains the importance of design, and how the idea of design for Apple goes far beyond merely looking good. Design, says Apple, is about simplifying even the most complex things into a usable and elegant interface.
While it’s still unclear how successful the company will be in achieving this goal, those who have used the new iOS have mentioned several great new features.
- Visible Timer: The timer everyone uses so frequently will now be visible on the lock screen function. This will prove extremely useful for those who use timers while engaging in activities that leave their hands dirty. Cooking and washing are just a few tasks that come to mind where this feature will be a lifesaver.
- iCloud Keychain: Entrepreneur discovered that iOS 7 keeps your keychain — all your passwords and credit information — synced and encrypted across all of your devices.
- Pinch to Zoom Video: Now, when you’re recording video on your device, you can pinch the screen to zoom on your subject.
- Mark Messages as Read: The whole world hopes this feature will make it to the final release of iOS 7. Veteran iOS users know how annoying it can be to get 20 batch emails, for instance, and then to have to go through and select each one individually to mark them as read. It’s a time consuming and fairly ridiculous process for such an advanced system, and a change that should have happened years before.
- Block Numbers: Call blocking has been something users have requested for years, according to Cult of Mac, and it’s a good thing Apple is finally responding. There are times when you want to block someone from calling or texting you, and now you should be able to do it fairly easily.
- Find My iPhone: This is a feature that Apple has confirmed. The new iOS will allow you to wipe or lock your phone remotely using your Apple ID and password, and you can also display a custom message to the person who has it.
A Bright Future
The new features, both potential and confirmed, of iOS 7 are exciting. You will have to wait until Autumn 2013, however, to enjoy them.
Image by William Hook pursuant to the terms of his Creative Commons license.


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Japanese diesel engine manufacturer Yanmar purchased Netherlands-based Vetus in an effort to grow its marine market in a “stagnating economy,” Yanmar announced today.
With the addition of Vetus, a boat equipment systems engineering company with markets in more than 100 countries, Yanmar hopes to continue to increase its footprint in the marine industry, the company announced.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Tom Watson, brand manager for Georgia-based Yanmar America, told Trade Only Today. “I really like their product lineup. It complements a lot of things we do as engine manufacturers and that’s why we’re excited about it. Everything made sense for both companies.”
Vetus will be 100 percent owned by Yanmar, but will retain its brand name and all of its current business lines, including engines, and will continue to be developed separately and sold independently, announced Yanmar Europe, which is based in the Netherlands. Yanmar’s main office is in Osaka, Japan, and Yanmar Marine has regional headquarters in Europe, the United States, Southeast Asia and Japan.
“We expect this merger to be profitable for both brands,” Yanmar Europe CEO Geert Jan Mantel said in a statement. “Together we will be able to further strengthen our presence in the leisure craft market and fill in each other's gaps. In today's stagnating economy we both see partnership as one of the best strategic ways to grow.”
“Vetus is proud to become a member of the Yanmar group of companies,” Vetus CEO Marcel Borsboom said in a statement. “Together we will create a powerhouse in the industry, from which all our customers and the marine sector in general will benefit. Being two strong, profitable companies, we enter the future with great confidence.”
Both companies hope to capitalize on the extensive sales and service networks each has developed during the combined 150 years they have been in business; Yanmar celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012 and Vetus will mark its 50th in 2014.
Based in Schiedam, Netherlands, Vetus has been involved in pleasure craft and small commercial vessel innovation for nearly half a century, with brands that include Maxwell anchoring systems and Marex custom-made windows.
“Maxwell's unique products will also help Yanmar to strengthen its presence in the sail- and powerboat markets and the superyacht industry,” the statement read.
The Yanmar organization, which employs more than 15,000 people globally and has a sales network operating in more than 130 countries, has been building diesel engines since 1912 with a design philosophy geared toward more power and less weight.
Yanmar designs and manufactures diesel engines, accessories and finishing equipment for a wide range of applications in pleasure craft and commercial marine vessels, for industrial use, agricultural machinery, construction equipment and cogeneration power systems.
In Europe, Yanmar employs about 600 people and generates annual sales of about 800 million euros. Consolidated base net sales were 551.1 billion yen, with an ordinary profit of 22.1 billion yen for the year that ended March 31, 2012.
— Reagan Haynes